La Vie en Rose

'Cotillard deserves a Rose'

If you haven't heard of this film, no surprise. It's not playing in most of the country and it is holing itself up in limited release as an art house film which is where it belongs since it wouldn't do too well as a wide release with public perception about the French and all. However, if you don't know who Edith Piaf is, then chances are you will never see this film as you are fairly ignorant about world famous international singers. Although I had heard of her and knew of her connection as a French singer, I admit to knowing little else about her to having heard only one song by her in my entire life. Man, was I in for a surprise.

La Vie en Rose is a biopic of sorts about the great French singer Edith Piaf and her rise to fame. Consider it like a French feminine Ray if you will. It covers her entire story from being born to an absent contortionist father who left her first with her abusive negligent street singing mother and then with Piaf's hostile brothel-running grandmother. She later grew up as a street singer until one day she was discovered by a kindly cabaret owner and given her first real start toward the international success she would one day become. Her life plays out like a depraved Horatio Algers novel. I have to admit that the story to her life surprised me and it is becoming more apparent to me that maybe only great artists can come from terrible backgrounds. Or maybe they just don't make movies about the good ones. I don't know.

The directing, actor-wise at least had to have been well done. Olivier Dahan might be an extremely able actor-director but I won't know until I see another of his films. The truth though is that Marion Cotillard could easily potentially win the best actress award at the next Oscar ceremony. If nothing else the film should be nominated for best foreign film if they won't let her be a part of the Best Actress award since it is a French film. MY GOD! She gives the best performance from an actress that I have seen in years! Not only does she look like Edith Piaf, but she captures all of the mannerisms and portrays Piaf as a younger drunk singer, an older more sophisticated singer, and as an elderly woman on her last legs who is slowly loosing her mind and is no longer able to focus, crumpling up into a leathery ball of used up morphine. I have never used this term before and I doubt I will ever use it again. Marion Cotillard's performance in this film is a tour de force. If you ever get the chance to see this movie, especially if you are an actress, then rent it or see it in theaters and pay close attention. I have a feeling that we will all be seeing more Cotillard soon since a job like this requires the world to take notice. Edith Piaf was known as the Little Sparrow and the similarities are made obvious by Cotillard's performance. I can't stop raving about it and as such I will move on before this article becomes far too long.

The directing of the film is fantastic. The light and shadows do well and play off each other. At times I admit to being slightly bored by the pacing and a couple of shots were a bit too obvious for my taste of such a quality film. Such as the obvious seamless transition of Piaf screaming down a hallway in her house to suddenly being on-stage. For the most part though the lighting, cinematography, and choice of shots are excellent and well-planned. Although I understand that the slightly muddled storytelling is a reflection of the elderly Piaf's inability to recall certain details (my favorite being that you will never see Marcel's watch) it does grow irksome with the continuous jumping and time changing. I did appreciate the obvious differences in appearance and settings as clues to the different time periods and that for the first 3/4 of the movie when a transition is made the subtitles tell you where and what date. It's just at the end when the transitions pick up a bit and it doesn't have time and has to rely on your remembrance of previous events and looks that it becomes slightly tiring. On the whole though, I feel Dahan does everything he can to arm the audience with the tools needed to carry through and figure out the timeline of Piaf's life without the direct storytelling influence of Piaf's memory.

Conclusion:
This film will help culture those who know little to nothing of Piaf. It contains one of the best performances by an actress that I have ever seen. Also, it has Gerard Depardieu in a small role and several other males in the film do a good job. The directing is pretty good and the storytelling is slightly muddled but makes sense in terms of unity of effect and can help to understand Piaf more toward the elder days of her short life. Although the child at the end was a cheap shot and did make me go, "Where the hell did that come from? Who is that guy?" Maybe you can do better. Oh yea, and I love the fact that she influenced Jean Cocteau to write a play just for her. Where is that kind of muse today in our world where amazing artists were rewarded plays? Oh well, non je ne regrette rien...

4.8 out of 5

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

Alright gents, I would have got this to you yesterday but stuff was acting funky. Let it aslo be known that June is almost gone leaving only 1 month left in this competition and that I just found out that I had to change Death at a Funeral because it was pushed back to August. Grrr. So, anyway here are the current rankings and everything.

INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.5 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.34 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 3.2 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.06 3 0 7.3

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 91 4 11 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 16.2 0 0 6
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.37 6 0 7.3
6 $*YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 11.5 6 0 7.3
8 $*EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 109 7 11 8.2
2 $SURF'S UP 47.3 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 97.6 5 8 6.6
4 $BLACK SHEEP 0.01 0 0 6.6
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 $SICKO 0.07 5 0 8.4
8 $FIDO 0.02 0 0 7.5

WILLO
1 $EVAN ALMIGHTY 32.1 3 5 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 17 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 26.8 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 451.9 4
WANNABE 390.5 3
GOS 382.132 2
CASTLE 374.1 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 23 2
WILLO 17 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 31 4
WILLO 30 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 27 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3375 4
GOS 7.1375 3
WANNABE 7.1 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 3 2 4 10 2
GOS 2 4 1 3 10 2
WANNABE 3 2 4 2 11 1
WILLO 4 1 3 1 9 4

Also, let me just say, that if your movie has a $* beside it, that means it has already come and gone from theaters. This is a strong possibility for Bug although I haven't marked it as such yet. So, enjoy and expect another update on my end at least soonish. Also expect me to eventually getting around to typing up that La Vie en Rose review. Damn I'm getting lazy.

Evan Almighty

'Evan decently mighty'

Well, according to numbers and critics, I am once again on the wrong side of the law. It seems most people disliked Evan Almighty, the 200+million comedy. And honestly, I don't know why.

Okay yes, the film is not a great work of art. It's a bit preachy and the jokes are not as good. Plus it does not feature Jim Carrey and the song at the end for the credits is no where as funny or cool as the one in 40-Year Old Virgin. But the film is definately intended as a family comedy film for Christians or at least good people chock full of good moral messages. Plus, the gags are kind of funny. (Although nothing will ever beat the internet site yahweh.com) I just wish people were a little more understanding about the film. So here's my breakdown about it.

The film is essentially a comedy piece for Steve Carell except without a lot of motovation for his character. The first film had a little raunch to it but this film there is not a single curse word. Noe of the performances are stellar but its nice to just relax and watch Carrell and laugh without having to feel guilty for laughing at something naughty like a sexist or rascist joke. If you have little patience or if you don't like Carrell then I could easily see how this film would become borng pretty quick as a alot fo the jokes get used a lot but I never felt they were overused. Plus everyone else is fairly amusing and Wanda Sykes is the funniest she's been in years. It's a nice family friendly kids moveie whose message is easy to understand and get and it is fun to watch and just let go. An escapist comedy for sure. So if taken as that, it isn't bad so I don't understand the waves and waves of negative feeling except that maybe Carrell has built up a bit too much of a edgy following with the 40-Year Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine. Story wise, the only problem I had was the ridiculous amount of animals that had to board the ark for such a small flood. It really made little sense. Everything else though is explained well and it doesn't cross any of the Bible or contradict it. God keeps his pact with mankind. Etc etc.

The performances are nice even if the main bad guy whose name escapes me, is a little obvious. The film is a fun romp. No strings attached. and a lot of fun. Risky to make a 200+million budget but due to the Christian craze in America it seemed like a safe bet. I don't know. It's a fun movie and not a bad sequel. Check it out for a few laughs.

3.9 out of 5

Wannabe

Quick Rant on Jack Thompson

If you have ever heard of Jack Thompson, then this is all there is to know, he hates videogames. The man is one of the biggest opponents of videogames out in the world and is a lawyer in Florida. Well, I'm sure he would say that he doesn't hate videogames, just violent videogames. So this discussion will be about violent videogames and Jack Thomspon and how far is too far. The recent controversy in the world has been over Manhunt 2 which has been banned in Ireland and England. It has been gievn the first AO (Adult Only) rating in the US meaning only 18 year olds and up can buy it legally, kind of like the R ratings at movies. Many consider this a success for the game industry, I would have to agree although I think banning it is a bit extreme. I believe that too many games get ratings that don't accurately reflect the content in the hopes that the game will sell and a game series bent on trying to invent as many gruesome and saddistic deaths as possible should definately get the AO rating. Honestly, this should not kill a game franchise. And everyone worried about it shouldn't be as worried. Gamers tend to have a good taste about the games they play. The first Manhunt underperformed spectacularly and I have always seen it on the shelves at every EB or Gamestop I visited despite that they stopped making it a while back. So where does Jack Thompson fit into all of this?

Technically he doesn't fit into this problem, thank God. But now for the touchy subject of school shootings. After each school shooting Jack Thompson has been the first usually to blame the actions of the vigilante on videogames. Doom, Grand Theft Auto III and most recently Counter-Strike have been his targets for videogame violence crossing over into real life. I am personally not a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series because it becomes boring to me, however I have spent exorbitant amounts of time in both the Doom series and Counter-Strike. In fact Counter-Strike, the recent supposed cause according to Thompson of the Virginia Tech shootings, easily used up more than a year of my actual life. Yes, I was a nerd and a big one all throughout high school and most of college. So the usual argument of I have never once wanted to hold a gun in my hand pops up. Well, what about all of the reports that are flooding out now about the violence in videogames. From everything I have read, here are the conclusions made so far. First person shooters help increase hand eye coordination. Violent videogames make kids more aggressive. There is more activity in the part of the brain of violence and without limitations DURING playing of violent video games. Yet, no one has been able to draw the conclusion in a reasonable way that violent videogames cause violence in real life. MSN had a very interesting article in which a spokesman for videogame companies mentioned that violence in kids as a whole has been down ever since violent videogames arrived and that the most violent school shooting in American history before Virginia Tech was in the 60's before videogames were even invented. I don't know how true these comments are but if they are even a quarter true that would make me lend a bit of credence to the idea that playing violent videogames allows for an outlet for stress and anxiety in people so that those feelings aren't pent up inside for a bigger boom later. I like this even more after hearing that no video games were found in the room of the attacker at Virginia Tech and most of his friends didn't even know or think he played games. His own roomate didn't think so. Apparently the fervor is because once in high school he played counterstrike and thought it was great. I would lend more creedence to the effects of Oldboy to which his actions with a hammer in his video to NBC seems to mimic and which has taken a lot of blame for the incident. As for the videogame Doom, it has sparked controversy for forever being one of the first person shooters to have created the genre. In it, you shoot only demons and floating eyeballs, and never a human unless playing other players and even then its so ridiculous. Thompson also claims that Counter-Strike trained the assailant at Virginia Tech and would never know how to use the gun otherwise. Never mind the reports that he got a gun license and certified and that he apparently went to the shooting range a couple of times, or the fact that he did a lot of the shooting point blank. I'm sorry, truly sorry for the loss that occurred that day due to a child who needed medical help and had trouble seeking it on his own. I find more the fault on the college for not heeding the warning signs but that is not my job. My point, is that as a human being I find what Jack Thompson does as wrong. He doesn't argue for a better policing system. He argues to try and have videogames banned or deemed inappropriate for children like that Doctor tried to do for comics so long ago and McCarthy did for the Red Scare and the entertainment world. Thompson has tried several cases and lost all of them. He has been kicked out of several states. He decided to write a letter to Bill Gates blaming him for creating the Xbox and licensing the videogame Counter-Strike for the Virginia Tech massacre, which makes NO SENSE because counter-strike was a thousand times more popular on PC than on console and was out much longer and Bill Gates probably never even saw the game because he is way too busy and has underlings who approve of those things beneath him. Thompson's argument that violent videogames showing people disrespecting cops, shooting other people, and having a general killing spree are obviously the cause of mentally ill people around the world taking up arms and taking the violence to reality is a nice argument especially for people who don't play videogames and don't understand the release of it all. It's also nice because it provides a scapegoat other than a f'ed up economy or a subtley rascist culture, or snobbery or bullying or bad parenting. It lets the scapegoat be a piece of plastic with magical powers made by a group of faceless overworked Californians whom everybody hates except Californians right? :( Jack Thompson's ability to speak and use his time as the champion against videogames without good proof, evidence, or even his own facts in order help to show why he has lost so many cases and why many other people are tired of listening to him. I'm not surprised if he has received death threats from people because all they want is for him to shut up and stop babbling without knowing anything. I agree though, that violent videogames should be kept from the mentally ill which is why I feel the stricter rating policy currently underway by the ESRB is a good thing. Now if only parents would be more careful of what their kid carries. Honestly, the rating is on the box and they have to get to the store somehow, so do some parenting dammit and stop blaming those who create games for those old enough to play. Sure, little kids wanna play big kid games, it's called growing up. And if you think back, weren't you banned from certain events, games, things, until you were technically old enough like...driving, playing poker with the family, anything like that? Conservatives, stop focusing on thos making the games and start parenting and pressuring those who rate the games and the economy will do the rest to thin out the market by no longer providing incentives for violent videogames that are more liked by young ones instead of adults. And Thompson, shut your stupid trap and read the facts.

Ocean's Eleven (1960)

'Ocean's first Eleven'

So, in an attempt to update my wife for the recent film Ocean's 13, I decided to rent Ocean's Eleven, you know, the remake with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and all that jazz. Instead, due to the fact that Blockbuster is a friggin mess, I wound up with the old school version to which my wife promptly denied watching. Probably because she couldn't just zone out and look at handsome men. So, while she was at work one day, I decided to try it out since I had never seen the original. Now, after having seen it, I like it but man is it different from the Soderbergh recent outings.

Here's the gist of the film, Danny Ocean is an ex military guy who decides to rally his old 82nd airborn group together to rob Las Vegas. Unlike the remake, they rob five casinos in one night and then try to make it out of town. The movie needed a remake honestly as it was beginning to show its age with the infrared spray paint used to label doors and other things like shoes. The cast is populated with old Vegas crooners such as Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and even Frank Sinatra creating a regular who's who of Vegas. It's actually quite amusing to see a bunch of Vegas regulars starring in a mobie where they get revenge by robbing the casinos and I'm sure the casino's let them because they trusted the crooners. Interesting decision. Before I get into the good the bad and the ugly, I'd like to take a second and ruin some of the film, so if you want to see this at some point and you probably do, don't read the next paragraph until after the film.

The most interesting thing about this film is how it was later remade by Stephen Soderbergh. Little of the plot remains in the remake and they narrow the focus to one casino and give in a face in the form of the casino president. What they manage to do well in the remake though is recapture the sense of comraderie and fun that was obvious between these eleven in everything from personal relationships and tragedies to poking fun of a particular character all the time like Brad Pitt and Clooney do to Matt Damon in the recent films. Soderbergh also does a good job of capturing the sparse almost at times noirish dialogue displayed in the film. Accusations and ideas flow between the characters with looks only to be disputed by other looks and eventually followed by a verbal apology or some other form that could easily seem like a non-sequitur if the interchange was missed. Also, the ending of the films are completely different. In the first one, one of the characters dies and they decide to hide the money in his coffin to try and hide it from the step-father of one of the eleven who found out and is blackmailing them. The problem is that it all gets burned because the guy's wife wanted him cremated so the greatest heist in Vegas history goes down in flames as no one winds up richer. In the Soderbergh version they get away with it although some of them have to go to jail for a bit. Plus, Danny gets his wife back which doesn't happen in the original. I actually enjoyed the original's ending better as it fit a litte nicer since none of the guys in it come across as that lovable except Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. So you don't really have a desire to see them get away with it and you don't have any desire to see Ben's greedy step-father get any of the cash either. Anyhow, besides that it was fun and it needed to be updated since the plot was beginning to show its age and I think Stephen picked up on it.

In the original, the plot is passable and really isn't that hard by today's standards. I loved the fact that the men use their strategic planning and thinking and even physicality that they learned in their army days to help rig and accomplish everything. I also loved that the plot was so big that they were going to hit 5 casinos. I especially enjoyed how each man had his own reason for joining to get the cash and that army friendship didn't necessarily automatically mean sure. It's well planned and pieced together and it easily illustrates how the best laid plans can go awry, although the cog thrown into it at the end is a bit of a stretch and makes Las Vegas look like the town where everybody knows your name if you get what I mean. My favorite bit of the plot is that the electrician has to break in to check out the wiring before he can break in again later to change it and it makes really good sense.

As for acting, the actors all do okay jobs. They play everything a bit too straight and a lot of the characterization doesn't really endear many if any of the characters to the audience. Ben is a jerk greedy slime-ball. The only one with a conscience seems to be Sam and everybody is so old school with the leathery looking faces which are great for cinema that none are really pretty boys. Although its fun to hear Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin sing a bit. As group they get along fine and work well but individually they tend to fall apart.

Conclusion:
Lewis Milestone's Eleven is a good film that resolves itself carefully in a manner that I didn't expect and makes itself into a slightly contrived but fun moral message about money and the right and wrong ways of attaining said money. The cast is decent and the crooners are interesting and fun casting but whoever that guy is who plays the foreign guy is really over the top and kid of annoying. I highly recommend this as a great comparitive piece to the remake and if you like any of the old crooners. Fans of Sammy Davis Jr. should see this indeed as it is apparent that he was probably put in as the beginning of the days of desegregation and was the token black guy who out acted most of the regulars. enjoyable. Plus the black and white cinematography is interesting sense it is shot with a noir sensibility mixed with a more commercial feel.

3.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Fun Factoid for July

Okay so it's not July yet but here is a fun tidbit. I'll give you a better one later but this is a good one. So, if you are a Harry Potter fan and you like watching the movies, there is one you have to see. I was just reading an interview with Rupert Grint(Ron Weasley) where he stated that he wanted to continue acting and I think if he continues to do it he has improved greatly since the first movie. I know when Driving Lessons came out I was a bit wary but the reviews have now convinced me to go see it. So he should have a future and I don't know how much he will get once the Potter series ends due to the same disease most Bonds have of being either typecast or thought of as only one character. Since I am a film maker I decided to look up his schedule since if I direct a feature it will probably be about the time he finishes the Potter series. In doing so, I found out that not only did he do Driving Lessons, he also did some British television movie and get this, before Harry Potter 1 and 2 he managed to get in a movie called Thunderpants. I have never heard of it but seeing that it is in the top worst 85 films on IMDB with a 2 star rating makes me excited!! The plot synopsis invoves a boy with superhuman farts who winds up in prison and there are also a lot of famous people in the movie including Paul Giamatti. It is bizarre looking! I highly recommend looking it up on IMDB and then if you are interested in terrible films, rent it. Anyhow, there you go. Now go forth and enjoy bad films while I write a review of the original Ocean's 11 and Evan Almighty!!

The Society of Shadows

Something wasn't right. The smoke and the puffing were all a bit too...what? Nervous? Anxious? No...scared. He was scared. Scared?

Quickly the man put down his corncob pipe with his shaky hands and opened his laptop. Scared? How could he be scared? He had weathered the tinkerer and the irish man and even the goofy one back in his younger days. He knew the difference between Moliere and Dion Boucicault and what is more he could quote them on the spot if necessary...then why was he scared? The answer of course glowed back at him from the screen in red.

"Oh my Gosh!" He knocked himself on the head and quickly got up to get into his old red Dolorian outside. If he could just go back and fix...oh well, it seemed he was out of plutonium so that wasn't an option. HE just knew that somehow he had to fix his investments as they were slowly dragging him into a world he hadn't seen since THOSE days...the COLLEGE days. The Dolorian rocked a bit as he shuddered.

How, HOW!? This one question would haunt him forever if he did not fix it soon. Wait a minute, didn't he recently sell his rights to NASCAR for some silly studio or something? How are they doing? He rushed back inside and started sorting through the pile of reports meant for him to have read back in May. AHA! The most recent report! And with a flourish he withdrew the report and plopped it to the financial standings.
Yes, yes! This was the problem! Apparently the stupid studio was absorbing his money into multiple financial failures...but he still had a chance to correct it. You Kill Me was the film he least cared for at the stockholder summit two months ago. It just didn't seem...to catch the eye of the other stockholders. That's it! It wasn't commercial enough! He had to make the most commercial piece of schlock he could if he was going to save himself. The thought of all the "uhs" and "duhs" created a wince so loud that the butler immediately left the room for some heart medication and a glass of Port. Now he would make an executive decision, but first, he needed the approval of the elders. After all, if it didn't fit their plans, then he might wind up like his old wife Winnie did, bless her heart. He stroked the frame on the wall, longing for the object inside to be pumping again so new and full of life. Then he twisted his watch face to send a signal to all members of the Society and quickly pulled a lever and vanished into the shadows before his infernal butler could come around the corner with his nightly Port.

The next morning came as a surprise to the world as a half finished project You Kill Me was inexplicably dropped into Blockbusters and other straight to DVD stores while a new film was started called Introducing the Dwights to be made in a week and released soon after. The trailer supposedly hit tomorrow! The race for best summer studio was heating up and here is what things looked like.

CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.3 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.2 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 2.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.02 3 0 7.6

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 70 4 9 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 7.1 0 0 5.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.2 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 INTRODUCING THE DWIGHTS 11.5 6 0 7.3
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 90.4 7 10 8.3
2 $SURF'S UP 34.6 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 57.4 5 5 6.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 14.2 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 23.4 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 548.6 4
WANNABE 401 3
CASTLE 373.02 2
GOS 351.862 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 33 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 24 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WILLO 35 4
WANNABE 33 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 25 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3625 4
GOS 7.025 3
WANNABE 6.8 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

The final rankings are:
BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 2 4 11 1
GOS 1 4 1 3 9 4
WANNABE 3 2 3 2 10 2
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 2

The exact same! Hopefully Introducing the Dwights will be more commercial than it is currently chosen. Willo is relying on a bunch of unreleased films to help him out. Castle is relying heavily on Ratatouille and Simpsons to save his tookus. Wannabe's big films are out. GoS is definately trying to copy his success with Ocean's 13 if possible and racking the PTA with Golden Door as Castle does with Once. That's the update gents. Expect for a new news bulletin next monday! Unless someone pulls a fast one before then.

Wannabe

Fun Factoid of June

So last month I brought all of you readers a loving fact regarding the hilarity of the Leprechaun movies. This month, I bring you 411 behind another well known series of movies, The Crow! Now, as most may know, the first movie of The Crow featured Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, who was shot and killed in an action scene. From all accounts by the filmmakers, they didn't use that scene since they felt it would have been disrespectful. The first film was a goth hit that then spawned several lackluster sequels. However, the man who directed the first film was a little known director at the time who proved he had vision and was then subsequently hired to bigger projects such as I, Robot. Yep, that's right, Alex Proyas. The same man behind Dark City. I didn't know this at the time, but apparently the movie is based off of a popular indie comic book by James O'Barr. Check it out. Now, for the good stuff.

Here's the series entries and lets see how many you have ever heard of.
The Crow (1994) featuring Brandon Lee
The Crow: City of Angels (1996) featuring Vincent Perez and written by David Goyer
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (tv series 1998) featuring Marc Dacascos
The Crow: Salvation (2000) featuring Eric Mabius and Kirsten Dunst!
The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005) featuring Tara Reid and Edward Furlong.

Man, I don't know what to say. Apparently all the good actors but take their turn getting the crap kicked out of them for making one of these films. Goyer later went on to direct The Invisible, Blade Trinity, and wrote Batman Begins. Edward Furlong started with Terminator II as the original John Connor. Tara Reid is...well, Tara Reid. Kirsten Dunst still surprises me. Apparently out of all of these, the only one that is supposedly any good is the television series which has no stars! Lol. Well, I'm sure that this franchise will never die if only because the first one was so good and it is one of the few movie series meant for Goths by Goths. Oh yea, let's not forget the recent remake of The Crow by the fans called Wings of the Crow, which has no names in it and apparently is terrible. Eric Drake changed to Erika? Please, what a ripoff. Anyhow, that's my fun factoid of the week. Maybe some time soon I will go out and watch all of these films back to back for some terrible fun.

Wannabe

Fanatix Indie League Update

Well gentlemen, it seems that this week has done little except to help delineate the toughest competition for the top spot. So here are the results!

CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.3 4 0 7.9
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.2 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 7 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 2.5 8 0 8.6
8 $EAGLE VS. SHARK 0.02 3 0 7.6

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 70 4 9 7.4
4 $NANCY DREW 7.1 0 0 5.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.2 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.002 0 0 8.4
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 90.4 7 10 8.3
2 $SURF'S UP 34.6 0 3 7.3
3 $FF4 57.4 5 5 6.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 14.2 0 0 5.6
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 23.4 0 2 7.7

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 548.6 4
WANNABE 401 3
CASTLE 373.02 2
GOS 342.362 1

PTA RANKINGS
GOS 30 4
CASTLE 28 3
WANNABE 24 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WILLO 35 4
WANNABE 33 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 25 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.3625 4
GOS 6.975 3
WANNABE 6.8 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

Rankings!
BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3 2 4 11 1
GOS 1 4 1 3 9 4
WANNABE 3 2 3 2 10 2
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 2

Currently me and Willo seem to be tied and Castle is holding his one point lead. But God of Shadows is fading fast and if he doesn't get some hits soon, he'll probably be out before he began. And on that note gents, I hope this finds you doing well and I look forward to any changes you might have for your schedule!

Wannabe.

X-Men: The Last Stand

'X-Men: The Last Crap'

When it was originally announced that Bryan Singer was leaving the X-Men films to go do Superman, I was not only surprised but worried. Who could make and finish the trilogy of X-men films that I loved so much with the first two? Unlike most fans, when Brett Ratner was announced after Matthew Vaughn dropped the gig, I was actually excited. I mean, sure his resume isn't decorated with any amazing cinematic movies or high-minded tales. But I loved watching Rush Hour 1 and 2 and even Money Talks. I thought he knew how to tell a story competently and was very good at drawing out chemistry among actors to provide an entertaining event. What else would you need for a X-Men film? Well, apparently a lot more.

X-men 3 is a mixed bag as the plot is not only rushed but terribly executed. The idea of a cure being found falls under the same themes as the first two movies. The fact that the cure is offered as a possibility to those who want it and isn't being forced is also great. I love that mutants have become integrated into the politics in Washington and are now recognized as the mutant population, a voting force and that the general public are still wary and scared. Great setup. However, there are hints of some sort of underlying reason why the cure is made and why Angel is the first to be tested, which is never explained. The setup of the rise of The Phoenix is lame as is the ridiculous meeting hall. I'm sorry. But Ian McKellan knows how to give rousing speeches, I've seen him give exhilarating ones. So when his speech seems eh? at best, I can't believe that hordes of mutants would consider following him. The truth is that Ratner does his best to try and make giant demolition sequences and special effects cover up the crap that is known as the script. The use of giving everyone more screentime is a bad idea as no characters are asked to be invested in since their screentime comes and goes at will. Then there is the performances...grrr.

A lot of death in this film...a lot of it. James Marsden does his best job yet as the tortured Cyclops. Kelsey Grammar is exceptional as Beast and anyone who thought it could have been done better is a fool. Patrick Stewart does pretty good as always. Famke Jannsen is excellent as Jean Grey despite the lame backstory for her awesome powers. Now let me say this, besides these standout performances, there are several performances that slip significantly...looking at you Wolvie. Hugh Jackman seems to have lost a lot of what makes Wolverine Wolverine. He has lost the crazy tough fighter attitude and most of the film is more of a tragic romance for him than anything else. Sure there are some fight sequences like the awesome one in the woods with the guy who throws wooden stakes. But I mean off the battlefield...he seems tame. Then Ian McKellan doesn't seem as up to snuff as he always does in everything else. This might be the weakest I've ever seen him in a role. Halle Berry, well, the split screentime is a bad idea as she is painful to watch. Spike looks cool but what a lame ability and Calisto is well, ridiculous. A lot of the film feels so contrived and stupid you can't help but either clap giddily waiting for the next confrontation or be upset at the lack of good story. I'm not going to lie, the lack of Rogue fighting and of Nightcrawler even showing up is hurtful. With Xavier dead, yes he dies, but its the best scene in the movie anyway, and for Nightcrawler to have even visited or to have helped in the growing conflict against Magneto attempt to kill the humans seems ridiculous. Just as it seems stupid for Rogue to have not left the line for the cure to help save her friends. Although I did like the battle between Pyro and Iceman, there are few things to like in this film besides the CG moments like when Magneto is tossing cars aside or when Mystique loses her mutant abilities. Multiple Man is used well though and I think he's quite a good cameo. But like I said earlier, the best scene in the entire film is the scene at Jean's house when Xavier dies. It's great. I also like the grudging respect and admiration of Xavier by Magneto shown after the fact, but that's different.

Conclusion:
The script needed a butt-load of more work. The actors needed some better direction at times. The cinematography is bleh usually with a few exceptional scenes shining throughout. And the majority of the film is populated with ridiculous over-the-top sequences (I'm sorry but did he need to use a bridge? Really? And is throwing flaming cars that much more scary than throwing non-flaming cars?). If you have no real feelings toward the characters from the first two and just want to see some good old throwdowns, then you should see this film. If what I hear is correct though in that they are slowly planning a 4th x-men movie after the Magneto and Wolverine spinoff films...here's to hoping it isn't directed by Brett Ratner! Oh yea, and here's to Rush Hour 3 being great!

2.0 out of 5

Wannabe

Night At The Museum

'Dammit'

Alright, here's the deal with the subtitle. I wanted to hate this movie. I really did. I dislike Ben Stiller's normal acting style and then when you put him and Owen Wilson together you usually get the biggest pile of cheesy schlock imaginable. If you love Zoolander then do me a favor and never breathe again. However, as much as I didn't want to see it, I have been pleasantly surprised in the past by these two. Starsky & Hutch and Meet the Parents were good movies. I even liked the two Wilson and Jackie Chan movies and The Wedding Crashers. Somehow, despite their mediocre talents in these films the directing and story encompasses them into it and they aren't as painful to watch. So, when everyone around the world watched this movie and several people told me it was a good one, I doubted and hopped back and forth on my feet until my wife had to watch something "brainless" as she calls it. And unfortunately, everyone was right. It's a good movie...now Stiller, go use your acting talents again in something uncomedic please?

Night At The Museum is an excellent movie and its premise isn't entirely new...I just don't think I've ever seen it done in this way. Usually these type of films where the location comes to life is more often than not a horror film. In this case, its been turned into a family comedy. Sure there are a few bad words here or there, but they are few and far between and won't be noticed. The best part about the film is the characterization. With such a wide array of characters to choose from, Shawn Levy does a great job of knowing how and when to use CG. The T-rex is a great one as is the slapping Capuchin monkey. Hah! I looked it up! Not only is the CG done well, but the casting is phenomenal. Steve Coogan as the Roman General figurine Octavius and Owen Wilson as the cowboy figurine Jedidiah are hilarious. Yes, yes, I said it...hilarious...I give all the credit to Coogan. Then Robin Williams does an excellent impression of Teddy Roosevelt. Ricky Gervais from the original British The Office and Extras is funny funny as the museum curator. Plus, the movie has Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs!!! What else could you ask for? I won't give away the plot or anything because I do believe people should see it, especially families, but I will say this. The only bit of casting that doesn't seem to fit is the casting of Ahkmenrah. He's too...underwhelming? He's not quite the character you would expect of a ridiculously old mummy. The plot stinks by the way. I mean, it works okay but it follows the same tradition of old school family movies where the ending doesn't really make sense but you don't really think about it or care at the time. It drives me crazy but it's not unheard of.

The nice part about the film is that it seems to symbolize a changing of the guard. It's no coincidence that the outgoing watchguards are old famous television comediens who had their own following and were considered the funnymen of their day and that the rest of the cast is filled out with comedians. I don't know if Ben Stiller is really the guy who will carry on the tradition of guarding the greats like Robin Williams, but the original idea is nice. Which is why the plot twist is kind of annoying to me but its fun. I could definately see Gervais as the curator of such a place though. Damn that man is funny.

Conclusion:
The movie is very family friendly, with a simple story and good guys and bad guys and great lessons through out and full of laughs. A symbolic changing of the comedic guard and some great performances from some of today's leading comedians. Shawn Levy has created a brilliant film and I look forward to his next directorial effort. Stiller proves he knows how to be funny. Cinematography and lighting are excellent with lots of shadows when needed. Now, someone just needs to write this review on the subway wall in ancient caveman paintings and maybe people will see it.

4.6 out of 5

Wannabe

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End

'At Wits End'

In the previous review I mentioned how happy I was with the second film and its inclusion of all pirate lore. Well, this film steps up the mythology and world of pirates a bit by including literally pirates from around the globe. I'm sad that the Kraken is now dead because the admiral Becket became fearful and had Davy Jones kill it...which I might have been the only one who caught because it was a passing reference. Although this film goes out of its way to broaden the view of pirates and who they are and the world they live in. A world outside of reason and control by direct means. It really goes to pieces in terms of plot.

In the third film they travel off the planet and there are some cool effects and I won't lie, but I got the feeling that Verbinski might watch Terry Gilliam films a bit much and to understand what I mean, I highly recommend the fascinating The Adventures of Baron Munchausen to those who don't know it. With that being said, the CGI is perfectly in place and it makes sense why these two films cost so much to make when you see the effects. The makeup and costuming is spectacular and exotic as always and the trip is a fun ride. However, the reason for bringing back Barbossa is still nebulous at best and makes little sense. There is a new plotline involving some pirate brethren meeting because of the pieces of 8...? Oh yea, and they introduce Calypso as a sea god bound by the pirates and Davy Jones years ago into the black Barbados woman. Now, Barbossa wants to free her from her mortal shackles in exchange she'll leave him alone and wipe out Davy Jones and the English. This is what stuck in my craw. After all the buildup and having a crazy black woman grow to be taller than the ship and everything...her powers blow. So she made a suction in the ocean and made it rain...big friggin deal. Why doesn't she just wipe out Davy Jones? For that matter, why doesn't she just wipe out everyone except Barbossa's ship? The reason is then it would deprive people of a good grand pirate hoe down and the ensuing satisfaction of seeing Becket lose his nerve...what crap. Calypso feels like such a letdown that everything after it just doesn't matter. It made me wonder why the pirates felt they had to trap her in the first place, she seems ridiculously harmless and pathetic as a God. I feared the mortal version more. Then there is the obligatory Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann love strife crap and them both trying to do what they think is right. Whatever. I'm glad the ending happened as it did in some ways and I won't tell you what it is that happens. Because now, it would seem that all adventures with Turner and Swann are over. Thank God. On Depp's side of things, he gets to have more fun in this film by apparently going even more insane and having tons of scenes where he is talking to himself. Nothing is more satisfying than simply seeing him by himself in Davy Jones locker messing with all of his other selves.

Interestingly, as much as I approve of this film, it is much much darker than the last two. Commodore Norrington bites it as does Swann's kindly old father...that's pretty harsh in a kid's movie. In a pirate movie though...that should have been the first 5 seconds yarrr. So the tone is darker, the stakes higher, and the idea of the fighting the power, of portraying the pirates as a protector of the legends and lore and imagination of the sea is really played out in this film as Becket now controls Davy Jones and a ridiculous fleet against the pirates few ships. And as always, we want to root for the underdog. Oh yea, and those two clowns that were in the first movie as British soldiers are back in this film. Along with Chow Yun Fat as a pirate lord from Asia. By the way, the opening to this film, is absolute crap as is the whole plotline of Elizabeth being Calypso or whatever. It kind of is a badly sketched plot to just make her a pirate lord. Blah. The opening makes little to no sense in terms of where we are after the second one. The same problem the second film had when compared to the first. The plot is weaker and it really hurts this film. However, if nothing else, it is well worth it to see Keith Richards as Johnny Depp's father Captain Teague and I love that he is the keeper of the Pirate Codex. Hell, I'd be up for another movie just about the relationship between these two as they are both very interesting to watch.

Potential sequels. Well, I highly doubt we'll see Bloom or Knightly for a while. Swann's father and Norrington are dead as is Davy Jones. Bootstrap Bill is still on the Flying Dutchman. So what's left to do? The answer is that Barbosa is still alive and he and Jack are always at each other's throat. Plus the movie ends with the idea that once again the two will face off as they go after eternity one more time by seeking the fountain of youth. Well, Verbinski is reportedly sick of pirates so I wouldn't expect to see him or his incredible eye for camerawork anytime soon. If I didn't say so earlier, the set design and the cinematography for these films has been beyond amazing and really make the rest of Verbinski's work pale in comparison. And Bruckheimer is not one to shy away from sequels to anything he can get his hands on and corrupt. Depp is supposedly up for more turns as Sparrow. Rush might do it but who knows, he's Geoffrey Rush and he does what he wants. The best possibility is that they will make another movie focused more solely on Jack Sparrow and his travails but it will be for a much smaller budget as Pirates 3 is currently underperforming magnificently at the box office when compared to the amount spent on it. But in the end of the day, I think the Pirates trilogy is perhaps the best epic trilogy next to the Lord of the Rings. Sorry Matrix, but you really blew it. And...well, there aren't many others besides that.

3.7 out of 5

Wannabe

Indie League Update

Okay fellas,
well the weekend saw several new releases and here is a list of everybody's slates. Remember, if there is a $ beside a title's name that means it has already been released and the numbers are the numbers for it so far, not its predictions.
INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.2 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 $DAY WATCH 0.1 1 0 7.1
6 $BUG 6.9 0 2 6.9
7 $ONCE 1.7 8 0 8.6
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 $OCEAN'S 13 36.1 4 5 7.5
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.1 6 0 7.3
6 $YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.001 0 0 8.4
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 0.06 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 $KNOCKED UP 65.9 8 7 8.4
2 $SURF'S UP 17.6 0 2 7.1
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY 125 6 9 6.9
7 SICKO 65 5 4 7
8 FIDO 16 0 2 6.6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 $HOSTEL II 8.2 0 0 5.7
6 $SEVERANCE 0.1 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 $MR. BROOKS 18.6 0 2 7.6

Next up are the rankings for each individual category.

BO RANKINGS
WILLO 537.8 4
WANNABE 462.1 3
CASTLE 385.2 2
GOS 349.761 1

PTA RANKINGS
CASTLE 31 4
GOS 31 3
WANNABE 28 2
WILLO 19 1

TOP 5
WANNABE 37 4
WILLO 35 3
CASTLE 28 2
GOS 23 1

IMDB
CASTLE 7.2875 4
GOS 7.1125 3
WANNABE 6.6625 2
WILLO 6.3875 1

Then the final standings as they are right now.

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 2 3.5 2 4 11.5 1
GOS 1 3.5 1 3 8.5 4
WANNABE 3 2 4 2 11 2
WILLO 4 1 3 1 9 3

Well, Gentlemen, I feel great about my standing now. It seems my new purchase manager knows how to do his job right. And as such, I highly suggest some of you scramble to change some things up in order to improve your rank. Let the rabble rousing begin!

Wannabe

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

'Pirate Man's Treasure'

Everyone I know despises this movie and detests it, so with that in mind I realize that this will probably be the review where people stop listening to me. I loved it. Seriously, the first movie, The Black Pearl seemed more like an exercise in egotism basing a bad plotline off of a Disney ride. In this movie though, Gore Verbinski defies the odds of a Bruckheimer film and actually makes a good pirate film. Let me explain...

In the first movie, yes it had some amusing funny bits and it was a Disney movie for kids etc etc. The only truly outstanding part of the first movie was Johnny Depp's characterization of Jack Sparrow. Well, Jack Sparrow has drawn everyone back to the box office and is no longer a welcome surprise. He is still loved by all, but his acting is no longer a surprise and is expected to be this good. The big difference this voyage out is that Verbinski makes this movie about something and it is no longer suitable for children...well it is, but not really. Then there is the fact that it engulfs as much pirate lore as possible with everything from Kraken to the black spot tradition. Sure, some of the traditions are altered, and the plot does kind of get wonky sometimes, but for the most part it recreates a mythology of pirates that has been perpetuated by film, literature, and even by sailor journals over time. I find this aspect of the movie totally fascinating and I love seeing Davy Jones as a pirate. Now the whole Flying Dutchman thing is kind of annoying because The Black Pearl in the first movie was obviously based off of the Flying Dutchman, but oh well. I feel that the exotic nature of the film with the Barbados woman and fun islands and locales mixed with the dearth of pirate lore and legend creates a fascinating adventure worthy of a blockbuster hit. It was fun. The real problem comes with some of the actors and the annoying plot points that are never explained well.

When polling most people as to why they disliked the movie, the majority said it was too complex with too many plot points and it didn't make sense. Plus they felt that the overwhelming amount of stuff was bad and just too much of an attempt to try and earn some cash for Disney. Then there was the attacks on the actors with Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightely being called hacks. Some complained because it wasn't a children's movie anymore which I found highly amusing since these weren't children complaining. Then there was the most popular hatred focused on the ending of the film. People apparently HATE it when movies just end without tying up plot points just because they have already made or are working on a sequel to fill it in. The one exception is Lord of The Rings where most of the people who accepted it did so because they realized that each installment was part of an elongated trilogy that were intricately tied together. There were no popular book trilogies to support The Matrix films nor the Pirates of the Caribbean films. And while I can understand that perception, people should try to be a bit more understanding of what is trying to be done. I would have liked to see a six hour film instead of two individual films but each film has its own flavor and things happening in it as will be obvious once I review the third film. This film's focus was on the world of piracy and the adventures of Jack Sparrow. I think most people disliked this film because of a messup in expectations. They went in expecting it to be an entire movie devoted to Jack Sparrow with a ridiculously easy plot to follow and instead found a movie about pirates, requiring knowledge of pirate lore just to understand what was happening and very complex multiple storylines involving almost every character from the first movie. Also, it doesn't wrap up and end...this is my guess as to why people despise this film.

As for what this film is about, it's about the loss of mythology and magic in a world where everything is mapped, charted, and found. It's about the pirates versus those who would make everything normal and boring again with cruise ships and the like. It's the first half of an incredibly long film about the world as it was when it was becoming less interesting and more "civilized" with the bad guy Becket representing the evil side of "civilization". If you go and watch these films, you learn this fairly quick. It is much more obvious in the third film, but it is still present in the second. As for plot though, well...it has hiccups. The beginning of the movie starts with some sort of deal between Davy Jones and Jack Sparrow that no one from the first film ever knew or heard of, so it is kind of irksome and out of left field. But if you can just sort of muscle through the premise which makes little to no sense compared to the ending of the first movie, then you can follow along with the winding tale of treachery and pirate backstabbing that is the second film. I especially enjoy the dichotomy of former Commodore Norrington's character. Sure, you have to pay close attention because some details get explained away in quick flippant lines, but the explanations are all their and the movie does a decent job of reiterating what has happened several times in an attempt to help out the younger ones. Although the most baffling part to me is that of the undead monkey...i thought that was fixed in the first film? The biggest fault between these movies is that Gore and the writers do a terrible job of explaining what happened in between stories. The ending is also really rough as Sparrow dies in an epic fight with the Kraken and then Barbosa is re-introduced...and not really explained. Although I did enjoy the meeting and explanation of Bootstrap Bill. The plot is so huge and epic that it fits the crazyness of the lore and pirate world in which the movie is thrust. The problem comes in that of the lovers. I'm sorry, but Bloom and Knightly rarely ever make me think they have any talent. They show that they can play the Romeo & Juliet bits well as the star crossed lovers who are destined to never get a moments rest...but really, they need to learn to add some interest to their characters outside of the story arcs twists and turns. God knows Depp did by simply leaning and waving about in an effete manner. Also, the ridiculous lengths to which the script goes to keep certain characters from the first film involved is kind of bizarre, but oh well. It's a Bruckheimer produced film. It's lucky that he even allowed Verbinski to make it about something.

Conclusion:
The acting is eh except for Depp and Nighy as Davy Jones. The story is massive and complex but a lot of fun if you are a fan of pirate mythology and lore. It's too bad it doesn't have a suitable resolution to help this film stand on its own. The CGI is impressive and the exoticism makes this film a very fun ride indeed. It's a little more adult oriented as a pirate film should be and there are still several great laugh moments. My real concern is that this time out the entire crew seems to have a wink in their eye everytime a joke occurs, especially that guy who plays the first mate for Depp's character. It's a bit hammy sir, just a bit. Besides that I congratulate Mr. Verbinski on making a fairly fun and enjoyable pirate movie for intelligent beings that would also like to see a blockbuster occassionally without feeling talked down to.

4.4 out of 5

Wannabe

Shrek the Third

'a short trek for Shrek'

Most people this summer were psyched about the three new releases of Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and lastly, Shrek 3. It's definitely a three-quel summer. Well, Spiderman 3 was a let down, especially at the end and it destroyed a lot of what the previous two films worked to build. The Pirates was recently toppled by Knocked Up at the box office and by most accounts is...bad. Then there is Shrek 3 which is probably using its time wisely to gain as much money as possible before any other CGI flicks come out like Ratatouille. However, like the other two movies, it is also receiving lukewarm reviews...and here's why.

Shrek I : Shrek falls in love with a princess and has to overcome his natural ogrishness to get her to fall in love with him.
Shrek II: Shrek meets the parents and tries to impress them while they desperately seek a replacement in the form of Prince Charming who turns out to be a jerk and fool aided by the fairy godmother with magic.
Shrek III: Shrek must go find an heir to the throne and deal with the new issue of being a father.

Now, the main things that have characterized Shrek in the past is its love of satirizing and making comedic interpretations of folklore, fantasy, and fairytale elements while at the same time using these elements as a commentary on the real world...for example, the town of Far Far Away is a mock up of L.A. and Hollywood. The third Shrek film continues the tradition of Fairytale mishmashes and social commentary in its normal comedic tradition...so why so eh?

The reason why is, the film feels like it has less heart. The setup is good with the king dying and Shrek being too afraid to take over since he is an ogre and people hate him. Then you have the whole revenge thing with Prince Charming and Hook and Rumpelstiltskin. Of course, as Shrek leaves he finds out that he is going to be a father and his nightmares set in. Then he finds Arthur who is the social reject of his class and is hated by most and has never known his own father really. This setup is perfect for the heart moments that would be necessary to preparing Shrek for the arduous task of child-raising. Now, remember, there is a revolt and an usurper to the throne. Plus Arthur has to come to terms with whether he wants to be king and somewhere in there is a turn where Shrek lies to save the kids life but in turn hurts the kids feelings. Blah blah blah. The movie is only an hour and a half, a short feature film by most standards and it shows because the triumphs and tribulations necesarry to be won together don't occur. The team doesn't overcome the obstacles necessary to make it believable that Shrek and Arthur like each other and that Shrek has warmed to the idea of being a father. The quick pace and desire to get back to the funny parts while skimping and shortening the story hurts this film drastically in the end by making it an interesting tale but effectively killing most of the commentary and heart that Shrek is known to envelope as a series. That and soem of the jokes were much lamer. Seriously fellas, the movie was decent and maybe that's because Andrew Adamson helped in the writing of it, but he didn't direct this time and I think that he would have known it needed to be longer with more story thrown in and perhaps a bit more of the fairytale parody.

As for voice acting, well there is an interesting bit at the end about Puss in Boots and Donkey getting mixed up. The normal voice actors for their parts do fine. Cameron Diaz for some reason really drew me into her character this time around. Not sure why, can't explain it. Although, when the credits role, my hat goes off to the fine actors who played parts and I had no idea they were even in the movie. Yes, that includes Rupert Everett, Justin Timberlake, and the almighty John Cleese who needs to do more work every day all day....he should just have his own channel, I love that man.

Conclusion:
All in all, the film is well done. The effects budget is improved and the visuals are noticeably nicer than in the first two. Unfortunately, the story is rushed and crunched down into a really small box when simply by its premise and what it tries to do it needs more room to breathe and accomplish its goals. Its frustrating because it isn't a bad movie, but it is nowhere near as good as the others and you want it to be because it is easy to recognize that it could be if given more time. Perhaps the only time I will complain about the time for a movie.

3.1 out of 5

Wannabe

Hot Fuzz

I have been collecting several reviews for this film. So first here are two reviews by other people.

1. Hi, Wannabe,
Couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell you we went to see Hot Fuzz. What a great spoof! Have you gotten to see it yet? The British humor is so much fun. We're trying to decide whether your wife would like it or not because of the blood... but it's so... British!! Did you say it had been at one of the film festivals? An Indie win, or something? We think our friend who has been studying forensics and is now teaching a college class in it, would really laugh a lot. He and his wife (our attorney who loves to read and watch British mysteries) are talking about taking a group of college students to London next May on a "Legal/Criminal Justice" tour.

The man, however, after seeing the movie, is afraid that with our quirks, we might get caught in some small village and have a hard time getting away.

Thanks for the (crazy) recommendation!

The Rents

2. Hehe...now after that quick jotted review, here's one from one of our other contributors, Castle.

Hot Fuzz

"Book ‘em dann'o, we got our front page"

It seems that I’ve fallen in love with the triumphant return of the unlikely duo of crime fighters... and no I’m not talking about Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers but bonus points if you were thinking that. Hot Fuzz shows that between the collaboration of director and actors and editors, this team knows how to make a bang on parody film. Using the same type of structure as the Shaun of the Dead Writer/Director Edgar Wright and Writer/Actor Simon Pegg create a buddy cop film that draws upon TONS of movies including (but certainly not limited to) Bad Boys II, He Man and the Masters of the Universe, Chinatown, Lethal Weapon and (of course) Shaun of the Dead. I think I even caught a reference to the fight between Andre the Giant and Prince Wesley from The Princess Bride... The film follows super cop Nick Angel (played by Simon Pegg) as he is taken out of London and placed in small town Sandford where he has to deal with annoying coworkers and a supposedly tranquil community. To complete the pair there is the delightfully goofy Nick Frost who plays Pegg’s right hand man, Danny Butterman, the dundering, malaprop-laden officer who follows Angel around like an eager puppy. The fact that Frost and Pegg are good friends comes through again to create a delightful ease to their chemistry and allow their scenes to sparkle with the sheen of great British humor. The rest of the cast hold their own and create one of the most bizarre and hilarious, two-faced British communities that I’ve seen.

While the chemistry and comic timing might be impressive enough by themselves, I found that the true strength of the film shows through the success of the editing and unity in design. Every shot fired and car chased was done in such a sexy, fast paced way that just fits perfectly into the goal of the movie. Hell, even drinking cranberry juice seemed hardcore. The music and sounds of the movie are equally fitting: a bunch of obscure, quirky, funny and well thought-out songs that compliment each scene they inhabit. . The shots were in interesting and well-done angles and lighting was just as complimentary. There were only a few blood spurts that seemed a little cheaply done but I’ll forgive them for a few “boo boos.”

Now I was a little taken back at first because this movie didn’t have the pace that I expected (no thanks to the trailers). They toyed with the audience’s sense of pace to comic effect but I was able to truly enjoy the film once I realized that this was not supposed to be 2 hours of a badass fight sequence (which was well waiting for and did not feel pushed aside at all). The only caution I give to viewers is that if you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead and were only a so-so fan of the film, you might find yourself caught in the “this movie’s just the same thing” trap. They do use the device of cyclical scenes and dialogue that can come across as predictable at times. I adored these moments. My advice, look beyond the similarities between their films. This is not the time to try and judge similarities between films like you would for Shrek/Spiderman/Pirates 1-3. Now if only the movie had a longer run in theatres and I didn’t have to wait for the DVD to release to see it again…

Conclusion:
See this film. It has great actors, over-the-top british cop themed humor, smart dialogue, and some truly kickass action sequences that I have come to expect from this creative team. There is a definite appeal to the teen-young adult male audience but I think that a wide variety of people can enjoy it just as well. This will be another film to quote and share with friends, who enjoy things like humor, guns, beer, and swans. Hurrah to good collaboration and I can’t wait to see what these guys have up their sleeves for the next one!

4.6 out of 5

Castle


Okay, now that you have had a chance to read these two previous glowing reviews, I'm going to write a lukewarm one and be hated for comparing it to Shaun of the Dead.

The recent film Hot Fuzz by Edgar Wright is absolutely hilarious and you should see the film for the awesome fight scene at the end and for the great role played by previous Mr. Bond, Timothy Dalton. My God he's great! And while the film delivers on the promise set by Shaun of the Dead by having numerous fun movie references and lots of comedy...it also fails to achieve its greatness due to overfulfilling the promise of creating a homage to buddy cop films...and slasher films, and thrillers, and Godzilla, and etc. This movie has been hotly anticipated for some time now and while I approve the idea of creating a homage parody of buddy cop films, somewhere along the way this film loses its focus and begins to be an homage to any film the creating team loved at some point in time, creating a hodge podge movie that doesn't attempt to make itself work better for teh audience. For example, the film is a comedy, a british comedy at the end of the day with some aspects of buddy cop right? So what is going on with the over the top gruesome deaths? The spire at the church tower comes to mind. And what is up with the Godzilla reference and scream lookalike and the Shyamalan twist? Although the story ties together and the build up for the awesome fight sequence at the end is paid off in full with constant shots at Bad Boys and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . The problem is that the tonal mix of the various genres they try to emulate creates a very confused film that they don't try to fix. Also, they stick to closely to the story elements of the traditional Michael Bay flick. Sure the action is cool and the cinematography rocks, but the story and characterizations of everyone in the film is no better than a sketch and they seem to be tone deaf as they prefer mastering one-note. Plus, a lot of the characters don't fit too well. The police chief is eh and even Pegg annoyed me when he tried to do his "I-m a badass" voice and yes its quite noticeable. The other problem I had was that the film tends to "preview" its jokes. The Keanu Reeves moment is a great one as is the over use of only so-so running gags and return jokes. Now truth be told, the film is still funny and a blast to watch as you get to see all of the highjinks and try to find the movie references. I can only imagine that this film becomes instantly better when seen in bigger groups. Its sad because when compared to its previous soul film Shaun of the Dead, Shaun didn't have any 2-d characters. Everyone had a third dimension to them and the jokes were smart and fierce and it stayed true to parodying only one genre which focused the energy and creativity more and resulted in a more powerful and funnier film. All that said, this is still a great funny film and I highly recommend it to anyone, except my wife who can't stand blood.

4.1 out of 5

Wannabe

Once

'Once is just enough'

Well, that's it. The search for best song at the next academy awards is over. This little independent Irish musical steals the show with the music. In fact, to be honest, you might be able to save yourself some time in a big stadium by just buying the cd because if you do see the movie you will want to go buy the CD directly after anyhow. Now, knowing what I know about this film in particular makes it very bizarre to me. I will explain as I go *sigh* as always...

Story. Simple. Boy meets girl and they start up an indie type romance as they help each other to mend their broken lives and to become someting greater than their current shells. Why is it so special? Well, its not the script...and its not the cinematography or the directing...its the casting. My god, their has not been such a great chemistry between two people in a long long time. That, and the amazing music. The two main actors played by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova sing their own songs and play them too. Also, they wrote most of them. I mean, its amazing to see these two performing together like a great concert DVD between a famous duo. If Glen Hansard wasn't famous before, well he just became so as this can easily translate into cd sales since his music is perfect for the kind of crowd this movie will bring. As for directing, there are some amusing and cute moments but they are few and far between and generally the romantic portions steal from common romance films or from Richard Linklater and his Before Sunset and Before Sunrise movies. Except instead of witty banter and dialogue, the emotions and communication happen mostly through organic songs. Organic meaning it never feels like the songs don't belong. No dancing wombats or moments of angst bursting into melodious tune. Nope, all is song in a very gritty and raw style that accents the soothing melodies and accents the sometimes despairing lyrics. Its a great story about love and about getting back on your feet and helping others, strangers. It's a wonderful feel good film, even if the film is made on crappy DV tape. Its obvious from the viewing that the film stock was cheap and that the amount of money put into this film was next to none. Thankfully the gritty handheld look and the terrible quality of the film stock add to the raw and indie aura of the movie, plot, and music. In the end, it all ties together to make a great film that only needs to be viewed once and then if you buy the CD you can relive the film everytime you turn on your speakers. I am not sure that the film is for everyone as the directing can be kind of boring at times and it does feel slightly slow. But if you like the music you should love the movie and the amazing chemistry between two current artists. Congratulations casting director on this brilliant job. And now the truth, once you see the film you won't be able to imagine Cillian Murphy as the lead male's role which is what he was until he dropped out and the songwriter had to step in. It would have been very bizarre indeed. Go see it if you can, if you cant don't be afraid. It should work just as well on the home set as in the theaters.

4.6 out of 5

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

'Sympathy for bad pacing'

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is the directorial debut of Korean director Chan-wook Park and it is also the first of his vengeance trilogy which is followed by Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. Although I haven't seen Lady Vengeance yet, I highly recommend Oldboy to anyone who has a strong stomach. Most critics call it the preffered film of the trilogy. The nice part about the trilogy is that it is a trilogy only by its ties through the theme of vengeanced and each story is a standalone tale. However, unless you want to see a film that will make you sit in pain, I wouldn't advise watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

The story is pretty muddled but it becomes clear after a bit. First we are introduced to Ryu, a poor dumb and deaf brother whose sister is dying and needs a kidney transplant. In an attempt to save her, he decides to offer his kidney to the black market in exchange for one for her. When he wakes up and realizes he's been screwed in the deal, he is forced to consider a new option. Finally he and his communist revolutionary girlfriend decide to kidnap his former boss's daughter and hold her for ransom. As you can imagine, things just keep getting worse. In fact, it's pretty obvious that the writers of this film and the director took a lot of their cues from Shakespeare. And that's all I will say about that.

As for acting, the females are the strongest actors in the film closely followed by Ha-kyun Shin who plays Ryu. Unfortunately Kang-ho Song who plays the other main protagonist across from Ryu seems to have taken acting lessons at the Keanu Reeves school of immovability. Truth be told the acting is okay on the whole but nothing special which makes the film incredibly hard to watch as we are shown shot after shot of uninspired cinematography and ridiculously long edited scenes that seem to have no purpose other than filling time. All of these things combine to create a pace that is excruciatingly slow. Also, it doesn't help to feel sympathy for either protagonist after all of the violent decisions made and the fact that the camera takes a third party omnipotent approach for most of the film (although the scene with Ryu and his girl and the detctives in the elevator all at the same time is riduclously powerful). Now, if you are a fan of over the top killing and deaths and violence...then damn this guy can do it. The writers and the director have obviously tried to think up some of the most terrible ways to die. Being electrocuted through the ears, committing hari-kari, having your achilles tendon cut while in water that's barely standable might just be the worst as it shows the gaping holes in the man's feet while he struggles to maintain balance and not drown. This is simply one of the director's cues I feel since there are similarly gruesome maimings in Oldboy. But even these gruesome scenes and depictions can't make up for the terrible pacing of the film. So can anything save it? Well, this is where the writing really kicks in and saves Chan-wook Park's obvious directorial debut.

While the writing is taking many cues from Shakespeare, it is in how the film uses these elements that th real message of the film comes through. It actually becomes easier to see the real message thanks to third-party approach of the camera work. The two main characters come from two totally different sides of the track. One is poor and heavily disabled in life with no luck. The other is rich but hard working and trying to lead a good life. The communist girl makes the dichotomy of these two more apparent by constantly referencing the idea of communists vs capitalists. The two main characters Ryu and Park then become symbols of a greater conflict between South and North Korea. Its a rivalry that causes many heated problems and Chan-wook goes out of his way to show that nothing good can come from this hatred rivalry. Like the two main characters, poor vs rich, capitalist vs communist, and North vs. South can only end in tragedy as both sides are forced to hate each other for what the other has and who are destined to die in a never ending conflict. I think that how Chan-wook uses the film to convey a societal meaning is an excellent beginning to a trilogy of films that I hear become more personal in approach after this one. It also provides an interesting look into the conflict of North vs. South as told from a prolific native artist. This almost makes up for the slow pacing. Almost.

Conclusion:
Unless you have a giant interest in Korean cinema and the conflicts of the culture in Korea or if you just want to understand the bizarre ant scene in Oldboy, I wouldn't recommend watching Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Yes it has awesome blood scenes that I think more directors should study if they want to create a more realistic and sickening violence in their films. Tarantino looks like a pawn compared to this guy, probably because Tarantino prefers the over the top blood splatter instead of the blood drip which I find infinitely more creepy and life like. The acting is eh and the story can get muddled some. And the pacing cannot be overstated as to how terrible it is. Fun to analyze but painful to watch. Not for the common viewer and its big mistake is the attempt to try to create sympathy in the audience through a detached and fairly Brechtian approach.

3.7 out of 5

Wannabe

Rightsizing

The last few weeks have been dreadful. Every time he looked in the paper he noticed that his ranking was lower each week and that the predictions were becoming more dire. He believed in sticking to his guns and following the lead of the president when times got tough, but then he saw it. The most recent article. Kevin Reilly fired from NBC to be replaced by Ben Silverman. He read it again to make sure. After all, this was THE Kevin Reilly. The man who championed critical sleeper hits like 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights and kept them around for another season despite bad statistics. The same man who helped start such quality shows on NBC such as Heroes. The #1 guy in charge of programming who successfully brought class to the big peacock was fired for under performing and was being replaced by the guy known for translating overseas hits into American ones. Why? Sure, Reilly had a number of expensive high quality shows that had to be canceled due to nobody watching..but why Reilly?...
As he pondered, Wannabe quickly lit a crack pipe and pondered his opiousness in a fun-filled haze. Only after realizing that his hand wasn't really that delicious a gyro, he had a revelation. 12 slaps and 3 coffee pots later, he was on the phone calling Headquarters. "Hello?"
"Yes?"
"Hello?"
"Yes si..."
"Dammit man speak up and stop the ch-ch-chimp imp-p-pr-pression."
"YES SIR!"
"That's more like it! Now do a little dance with your phone and sing to it before telling that fat smorgasbord Danion that he is fired! And if he ever shows his face around my office again, I'll eat him! With ketchup!"
"YES SIR" *click*
The next call was slightly more coherent as the effects were wearing off as was his energy in a rapid progression. "Hello, Yea, hello? *yawn* IS someone there?"
"Yes, I'm here. Who the hell is this and why are you calling so friggin late? It's 2AM buddy now leave me alone."
"Huh? Oh, Junders, this is the president of uh...chimaera productions. You know, in H-wood."
"Oh, wow, yea hey. What, uh, what seems to be the problem? Anything I can do? Just uh, let me get out of the room here...YEa, I'm sorry about that earlier. Just caught me napping thats all."
"What thing earlier?"
"...Nothing."
"Oh...anyhow, I just fired Danion as my film purchase manager and I have a need. I would like to offer you the opinion, I mean position based on your previous produced films. But first I need you to tell me how you plan to fix my currently drowning slate."
"Easy, I mean I think Danion did a good job on choosing independent hard films that America needs to see but...well, you run a very old commercial institution. Therefore I'd drop Ghosts of Cite Soleil, The Method, and even A Mighty Heart."
"But that has Angelina Jolie!"
"YEa, but have you seen her skinnyness recently? It's not good. And then I'd replace them with the sure to be hits I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Sicko, and I think the small indy film Fido can take off provided the right coverage and critical praise. It has a great Shaun of the Dead feel which is more popular these days with things like the Hot Fuzz guys. Anyhow, that's what I'd do."
"Hmm, interesting. Alright fine, but you're late for work. So double time it mister. I have money to make and tickets to sell. "
"Oh, uhh, okay sir. Let me just tell my wife..."
"NO TIME! Now get out that door right now and be down at the office in 15 or forget that 150,000$ job along with your career!"
"I'm going, I'm going!" *click*
A smile of joy passed over Wannabe's face right before his head hit the table from standing too quickly and he revisited the wonderful land of handwiches. Peace to you all and just to let you get a glimpse as to how this affects things...read and weep.
OVERALL
GoS 10
WILLO 10
CASTLE 11
WANNABE 10

Yes...yes...now take that with some dijon mustard!!!

Most recent update

BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
$2 PAPRIKA 0.114 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
$5 DAY WATCH 0.05 1 0 7.1
$6 BUG 6.1 0 2 6.9
$7 ONCE 1.06 8 0 8.5
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9
TOTAL 383.624 31 28 7.275

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
$5 GOLDEN DOOR 0.07 6 0 7.4
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
$8 EVEN MONEY 0.05 0 0 5.9
TOTAL 428.97 31 26 6.75

WANNABE
$1 KNOCKED UP 30.7 5 4 8.6
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6
TOTAL 323 22 23 6.525

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
$6 SEVERANCE 0.06 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
$8 MR. BROOKS 10 0 2 7.7
TOTAL 553.96 20 38 6.35

OVERALL
GoS 12
WILLO 10
CASTLE 13
WANNABE 6

mAN, i'M GETTING stomped. I will be doing some changes real soon. to everyone else, congrats and keep moving on!

Out of Time

'Out of Originality'

Denzel Washington is always considered to be above reproach when playing roles. With that said, he always plays the same roles. When he stops acting, he will have played more police roles than some tv police actors have episodes. He is almost always a strong tough black man who is an authority figure such as a detective, cop, navy officer, etc. Hell, in the Branagh Shakespeare film he plays the prince/king. Fortunately, he is quite good in this role type and he seems to realize that everyone thinks so as well. Yet, I would still like to see him try and do something outside his comfort zone like a nerdy scientist. All the same, he plays his typical role in this film and its quite sad that I can feel nothing new for him. Oh well.

Out of Time is a paint by numbers mystery/thriller. With that being said, the real shining moments are the tense bits that occur with Washington at the station trying to cover his tracks from his semi-divorced wife who was recently made detective and head of the case he would easily be suspected and put away for. Yes, Denzel is excellent and I love watching Eva Mendes in anything. Although she also needs something other than the hot chick or tough girl part. Perhaps the best part goes to Dean Cain who plays the villain and whom I didn't recognize until I read the credits. Yep, Supes is evil baby! and apparently a football player. The other main leads are fairly unknown such as Sanaa Lathan who is excellent as the damsel in distress and John Billingsley as Chae, the lovable comedic sidekick to Washington's straight man. Seriously, the twists and turns could be predictable but there is a nice familiarity with a piece like this. Despite the fact that the mystery ends too soon, the plot is familiar enough to let the audience know to just sit back. In fact, the saving grace of this movie is the setting which is supposed to be the Florida coast near Miami but I swear the settings reminded me a lot of New Orleans. Most of the shots caught that by the shore feel perfectly and added an exotic feel to the story that kept things fresh and interesting in the same way that there are so many beach murder mystery novels that I never read but always catch my eye when walking past the mystery sections. Unfortunately, the setting is pretty similar to some of Denzel's later works like Deja Vu and Man on Fire, rendering this film as a complete waste in Washington's canon. So yes, the story is pretty simple and has been told a thousand and one times, but it is conveyed well and it ties itself to the Florida coast exceedingly well through the cinematography. Also, this film had some of the best tension scenes that I have seen in a while. Now in the fighting, but between when Washington's wife would figure out that he is involved with everything. a lot of luck and some great timing elevate those scenes and the long introduction to the characters at the beginning pays off by having us as an audience care for Washington's character and screw ups and root for him to stay with Mendes. In this relationship the movie shines. So, directors of the world, watch this film to figure out how to set up a believable mounting tension sequence and for nothing else, except maybe some beautiful settings and shots. Washington, go do a screwball comedy or something. Anything! end the monotony and remind us why the world still respects you as an actor. Pull a Samuel Jackson and do Snakes on a Train, I don't care. Just switch shit up! Oh, and Carl Franklin proves he has a decent to good grasp of directing, now next time just try and get a better script that doesn't need to try and hide its defects with a lame comedic character.

2.9 out of 5

Wannabe

Indie League Late Update

Alright, sorry fellas about the lateness of this update. The week has been crazy. Here's the current standings and don't be surprised if I start changing mine up pretty soon. So here's the breakdown!
INDIE LEAGUE BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE
1 RATATOUILLE 225 8 16 7.9
2 $PAPRIKA 0.05 4 0 8
3 NO RESERVATIONS 38 0 1 6
4 SIMPSONS 100 4 9 6.9
5 DAY WATCH 1.5 1 0 6.3
6 $BUG 4.6 0 2 7.1
7 $ONCE 0.5 8 0 8.3
8 EAGLE VS. SHARK 13.3 6 0 6.9

GoS
1 TRANSFORMERS 240 10 16 7.1
2 EVENING 23 7 0 7.7
3 OCEAN'S 13 115 4 8 5.7
4 NANCY DREW 48.5 1 2 6.1
5 $GOLDEN DOOR 0.04 2 0 7.4
6 YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME 0.35 0 0 7.2
7 YOU KILL ME 2 3 0 6.9
8 $EVEN MONEY 3 0 0 5.9

WANNABE
1 KNOCKED UP 105 3 6 6.9
2 SURF'S UP 90 3 6 6.3
3 FF4 160 8 13 5.7
4 BLACK SHEEP 1.1 1 0 6.3
5 DEATH AT A FUNERAL 11.5 0 0 5.3
6 THE METHOD 0.45 0 0 7
7 GHOSTS OF CITE SOLEIL 0.25 0 0 7
8 A MIGHTY HEART 29 5 0 6

WILLO
1 EVAN ALMIGHTY 135 5 10 6.6
2 HP5 230 9 13 7.6
3 HAIRSPRAY 60 2 4 5.9
4 LIVE FREE OF DIE HARD 73 3 6 5.9
5 HOSTEL II 33 1 3 5.3
6 $SEVERANCE 0.02 0 0 6.9
7 CAPTIVITY 12.9 0 0 4.9
8 MR. BROOKS 21 0 0 4.6

If a film has $ beside it, it means it has been released and the figures beside it are its current stats.

STUDIOS BO PTA TOP 5 IMDB
CASTLE 382.95 31 28 7.175
GOS 431.89 27 26 6.75
WANNABE 397.3 20 25 6.3125
WILLO 564.92 20 36 5.9625

BO PTA TOP IMDB TOTAL RANK
CASTLE 1 4 3 4 12 1
GOS 3 3 2 3 11 2
WANNABE 2 2 1 2 7 4
WILLO 4 1 4 1 10 3

So, it looks like I am losing right now, but after a few changes this weekend and that will hopefully disappear. Expect the next update on Monday or Tuesday as usual. Sorry once again fellas and I hope your summer is going well! Oh, also, Willo, contact me when you get the chance. Got some questions for you. Peace!

Wannabe

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Wow. I'm not sure if it is the fact that this week has been exhausting and makes me therefore more susceptible to crying or what, but this movie had me bawling several times and I HATE crying at any entertainment piece. In other words, this film is damn good.

Before I get into this film, let me just say I picked it up on a whim. I had heard mention of it once before. I knew it was an indie film that got little to no release. More importantly, I knew it contained Robert Downey Jr., aka Iron Man, who is ALWAYS outstanding despite whatever personal issues he might currently have. This was the key factor for my choosing this over Thank You for Smoking from the local Blockbuster 3 for 20$ line. That and I had already seen the latter. I found out later after the movie was over that the movie is loosely based off the book of the same name written by the same director/writer Dito Montiel. And for a guy who has no other film credits to his name, it's obvious that this guy has a passion for this story and that sometimes that's all you need to tell a story well.

The story starts with a writer named Dito Montiel, played by Robert Downey, beginning to read from his novel. The novel is based on his childhood and the people he used to hang out with back in the incredibly hot days of New York. As the story evolves, we see how it relates not only to his childhood, but also how it now affects his adult life as his father falls ill and he has to come back and revisit the family that e ran away from and try to right some of the wrongs caused by his early departure. At times, the story and loses some importance to how its told. For example, at a couple of pinnacle moments, the editing will become more apparent as the action gets broken up and snippets of what is happening is shown with a second of black in between creating a hazy montage of blurred action that portrays an emotion perfectly despite the hectic crazy-ness. The story is a tragedy at first and it evolves into a reconciliation story. It's beautifully portrayed and told as evidenced by the Best Director and Best Ensemble award from Sundance. It's an emotional powerhouse that I haven't seen since Crash. It's incredible.

As for the acting, now that I've butchered any telling of the story, is outstanding. Chazz Palminteri has never impressed me much. He has always come across in the past as the prototypical Italian and would play the Italian role well in whatever film he was inserted. Then again, to be fair, the previous roles he received were nowhere as meaty as this and he knocks down any old prejudices by shining and flaunting his acting ability in this film. Robert Downey plays his part well, but surprisingly his is not the hardest part nor is it that astounding. He has one or two good scenes, but essentially his part is just a walk-on in a lot of ways. And as much as Castle will hate this, Shia is damn good in this film. As the young Dito, Shia plays a lot of it just right. He's a confused kid trying to grow up and be one of the boys and at the same time desiring to leave and become something. The director Dito, (too many Ditos!) does an excellent job of directing all of the actors but Shia and Channing Tatum especially. Channing plays the young thug friend of Dito, Antonio, to whom the film is dedicated and he gets the brooding thuggery and mixed emotions of being tough while at the same time expressing his love and loyalty just right. In fact, all of the young actors are well directed, including Melonie Diaz who plays Dito's girlfriend, Adam Scarimbolo who plays Antonio's dejected and possibly mentally maligned younger brother, Peter Anthony Tambakis who plays the young ethnic Nerf,and even Martin Compston who plays Mike O'Shea, the young Scottish immigrant with big dreams who helps Dito to realize his potential. The performances are all outstanding and entwined. Despite all of the big names though, I am highly intrigued now by Anthony DeSando who plays Frank the dog walker. Man, he is amazing and what a great character to have to play. I cannot imagine a better introduction to a character in my life and when you see the film, which you WILL, you will understand. The acting is outstanding and it is obvious that the director knows exactly how he wants everything to go.

As for the lighting and cinematagrophy, well, it is all used to accent the acting of the actors. The one real slip up, is the occasional use of voice overs. At certain moments, seemingly random at times, the camera switches to documentary mode and has an actor address it as to who they are and what they think. It is not that distracting and it actually adds to the film by helping to clarify things occassionally, but it is a very interesting device and could be cleaned up some by putting it in more appropriate places. The editing is excellent and it changes into a more frantic scattered pace usually when some high emotional moment occurs. Hats off to the cinematographer and editor on a job well done.

Conclusion:
The acting, story, all aspects of the film are incredibly well done. The film isn't for everyone. It's a very personal look into the director's childhood and it does contain a lot of adult content in terms of violence and cursing and sexuality. But what the film has in spades that very few films now do, is heart. The brutish love of Antonio is heartbreaking and disgusting at the same time. The film is set in New York back in the older days of the blocks and it conveys that sense beautifully. I have nothing but good things to say about this film and its message about family and what it takes to be a real man. I will have to go read the book now. But you, well, watch this first then decide. I think you'll agree with me.

4.7 out of 5

Wannabe